By the way, for anyone gullible enough to believe that the Medium series is based on the life of a real working medium, you might like to visit www.randi.org and search for "Allison DuBois". The real Allison DuBois has no record of working criminal cases for the police (at least not that I could find, even on her own website), and actually has an appalling record as a psychic.

Bill Fitzgerald is spokesman for The North Phoenix County Attorney's Office, where Allison is supposed to have worked. He says Allison DuBois occasionally worked for them unpaid for such things as -- wait for it -- jury selection!! Not quite the image that the series is portraying!

The following article is also of interest. It's by Clint Van Zandt, former FBI Profiler, who explains why psychics only work for the police on TV and not in real life:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7320305/

I do not know where you are getting your information from, but anyone with an ounce of research savvy can find the information you presently factually as not existing. You may not believe in mediums and thats fine, alot of people don't.

The series is of course LOOSELY based around Alison's life, after all although being a medium isn't exactly normal, tyhey have to jazz it up to a point - its not a documentary - its TV Entertainment. Duh!

Alison's main role at the attorney's office was jury selection and she is certainly portrayed that way in the series. Mediums have worked with law enforcement agencies for many years and I would be surprised to find any that will actually admit it. Utilising a medium can help a case immensely but the prosecutions case would be thrown out at the slightest hint of the involvement of such a person. Something that is addressed often throughout the series.

I am very interested to know where you get the so-called appalling record as a psychic information from.

Again anyone able to type in www.google.com can find the records of all the tests that have been carried out on her and her family by reputable doctors and psychologists throughout the United States. Call some of the law enforcement agencies in her area - they will confirm for you what she is capable of and what she has done.

If anyone really cares to research "the records of all the tests that have been carried out on her" they will find some interesting things. For example, do a search for "Dr. Gary Schwartz" (whose studies have endorsed Allison).

I am all in favour of scientific tests. Let's see some. Can you quote any published paper from a respectable source which supports Allison's validity as a psychic? Can you explain why she has not applied for the JREF foundation's million-dollar prize? (To qualify she would only need to take a simple test). Can you explain why no psychic has ever been able to prove their skills using independently-verified, peer-reviewed methods?

I would like to take up your suggestion of calling some law-enforcement agencies and asking their opinion of Allison. Do you have any recommendations of people I should ask for? I'm a fair person and if I can find genuine support I will be happy to acknowledge it.

Now, regarding other crime-busting psychics/mediums....

We have a TV program running here at the moment which purports to show psychics revealing startling new information about murder cases every week. With the incredible information these people are supplying, can anyone explain why not one single case has been solved (or even advanced significantly)?

If psychics are able to sit and talk to murdered people (as they claim they are doing), why don't they just ask "Who murdered you and where can I find evidence we can use in court?" Why all the beating around the bush? Why the theatrics? Why not just get the facts and hand them over to the police?

Courts won't care who supplied the information which led to discovering the evidence. If the evidence is there it will speak for itself.

If Allison DuBois (or any other psychic) could do half of what they claim, there would be no doubt about their abilities. Allison should be able to routinely close unsolved murder cases to the satisfaction of people like me. If Allison DuBois is genuine, she should have a long list of indisputable success stories. Where are they?

Dear Dave,
Try this on for size. The Randi's of this world, aren't skeptics at all. They are ideologues. When does a prophecy become participant fulfillment?
Nostradamus spoke of a man he called "the Gaul" who would lead France three times. Short list, since it's only happened once in the last millenia. But, wait!! Would Randi and his ilk admit it? Never, never, and never. Of course, La Grande Charles, only got there, De Gaulle, for the Gaul, by participant fulfillment action which he took on himself. Charles de Gaulle fulfilled this prophecy of Nosty, precisely, but only by participant fulfillment, since he and the frogs around him knew of it, all along. Oh well!! Would la Grande Charles, have bowed out, and did his time in the wilderness, between the fourth and fifth Republics of France, it he didn't have some faith in the old Nosty predictions of three dances?? Whether Allison Dubois is all she's cracked up to be, or not, participant fulfillment raises it's ugly head, but a real skeptic, would try to test at a double blind level, rather than simply debunk anything and everything.
Simple dowsing, by recruiting 400 to 500 folks at random, and finding the one or two natural doers, who could twist the bark off of a willow twig, at the first go, would blow all the Randi's out of the water. Why has he never got around to doing this??
When I was introduced to dowsing, I didn't believe in it either, but after the bark came off a green twig in my hands, I had to open my eyes, that my professors at WSU, were wrong, in saying it never worked. The more you try to grasp the twig, when over a real fast flow of water, the more violent the reaction becomes. Incidently, the gent who showed me the 'Art', growled that if it had been a dry twig, I would have lost all the hide off of my palms, instead of the bark coming off, first.
From what I've read of James Randi, he disconnects a fulfilled prophecy, due to this participant fulfillment circuit breaker, but Charles de Gaulle, did fulfill the prophecy of leading France three times in his life, and that's both historical fact and virtually impossible to accomplish by participant fulfillment, say, by buying your way through it. Did "the gaul" create Adolf Hitler, just so he could lead the Free French from England, during WWII??
Every prediction of Allison Dubois, falls into this paradox. At some point, the people on the inside, realize they are walking down a predetermined path. Just my ramblings, but being aware of the paradox is really the first step to mastering this paranormal genre. Mr. Caron, can't deviate too far from this and remain believable, in my mind.

I can't comment on the specific Nostradamus case you refer to because I don't know about it. What I do know about Nostradamus is that his predictions are so vague and open to interpretation, they are effectively meaningless. How many times have we heard that an event is about to happen which will fulfill a Nostradamus prophecy? I heard my first one when I was about 8 and I still hear them regularly. When these dates pass without incident, it's forgotten and we get ready for the next one. Very boring.

On the face of it, a prediction that someone will lead France three times doesn't sound too startling. If he had unambiguously predicted many such outcomes with a very low margin of error, that would be something to consider. In the meantime I don't see anything to get excited about.

As for the idea of double-blind tests, that's what Randi "and his ilk" are all in favour of. I've seen him suggest such things many times but those on the other side find convenient excuses not to participate. I say bring it on - let's test dowsing in a scientific manner.

If you are confident in dowsing, here's my suggestion:

(1) Contact the JREF Foundation and clarify the conditions for a scientific test.
(2) Do the test.
(3) Enjoy your million dollars.

It's not hard. If you have any problem with any part of this process, report it here.

Here's something I came across today. It's from the Dungeons & Dragons instruction manual, explaining how to make a prophecy. I hope you enjoy the last line as much as I did:

Quote:

Making a Prophecy

What's the point in being a prophet if you never get anything right? The trick to creating a prophecy is to bury it in symbols or metaphors that, after the fact, become perfectly obvious. The more specific you are, the more likely it is that you will get something wrong.

Don't use names, use titles. Instead of saying "King Derath of Veronia" say something like "Veronia's Lord" — or better yet, "the lion of Veronia" or even "the lion of the East."

Don't use dates that occur only once; use times of the year, seasons, or celestial events. So instead of saying "March 15th of the year 635," say something like "Beneath the third moon" or "when winter's grip weakens in the fifth year."

Use metaphors instead of clear statements. Don't say "dies" or "is killed," say "falls into darkness," "stands before his fathers", or "goes into the night."

Add a random, unconnected remark, such as "the traitor sees it all" or "Now the door stands open to the night."

Here's an example:

When rises the red moon above the North,
The lion of Veronia ceases his roar.
Three times three are slain,
Rose petals fall from the elf maiden's hands.

These images could mean almost anything. The red moon might be a specific season or celestial phenomena, or a metaphor for "war." The lion of Veronia might be its king or a Veronian-born hero. The rose petals could be flowers strewn on a grave, or perhaps drops of blood; so was the elf maiden grieving for the slain or was she actually their murderer? It worked well for Nostradamus, you can make it work for you.